How to Engage Your Employee Using Change Management

It’s a well-known fact that for most people, the thought of change can be an alarming prospect that’s best avoided. The reality of change is often very different, and in many cases, turns out to be an improvement; but the instinct I’ve found over years of working with companies going through change is that most people tend to fear change.

This is especially true of changes at work. When you call your employees into a team meeting and announce that you’re making changes that will affect everyone, very few of the people attending will cheer and say great, bring it on!

Instead, they are more likely to be worrying about whether these changes are a threat to their jobs, because they will fear that their role could change from something they enjoy and are familiar with to a new and unfamiliar position or no position at all! They may also be concerned that people they work with will have to move or leave; or that there won’t be a position for them at all. When answering the question, “how do I best lead my people through change?” There are many answers, but a key factor will be listening to them, understanding what they are thinking and feeling and doing this through creative technology.

It doesn’t matter if the changes you’re planning aren’t in any way a threat to jobs, people are still going to be suspicions about having to learn new skills and the risks of making mistakes; all the insecurities that come with change of any kind.

This is where change management comes into play, to make change a positive collaboration between leaders and employees to improve the business and make the change experience even more rewarding. Therefore you need an effective change management plan that you have in place before you speak to your employees.

You need to be able to position the forthcoming changes in a helpful context, and something that has a clear ‘why’ behind it. Concentrate on the why, and be prepared to answer any questions your employee have honestly and hopefully.

You can’t achieve effective change without having a well-thought-out change management plan in place. Managing change so it causes minimal disruption and employee dis-engagement takes considerable expertise that has seen the rise of an entire specialist sector of businesses who handle change management for other companies – for a price.

It’s more than possible to manage change in your organisation using advanced change management plan software. A high-quality technology like Inpulse change management software provides extensive information resources and guidance, as well as market-leading tools and reports to help you really understand what is going on in your organisation and more importantly how you need to respond.

Using technology like Inpulse during change enables you to measure how your employees feel and why they feel that way. Pinpoint what is stopping them flowing with the upcoming changes, so they not only make the changes asked of them but also make a valuable contribution to the process. We have detailed evidence through using Inpulse during change that where employees feel that what they do is valued and respected, they are 70% more likely to embrace change and do what is required.

Change is inevitable in business because any organisation that doesn’t evolve and grow is destined to wither and die. The best way to help yourself and your colleagues achieve a successful transition is to measure the right factors throughout change, and the best way to to do that is to use the leading change management technology of Inpulse.